3.28.2012

jeremy lin meets with "chink in the armor" headline writer

While the craziness of Linsanity has somewhat faded since February, it's no secret that New York still loves Jeremy Lin. But now it's official.

The Knicks point guard was recently voted the most beloved sports figure in the Big Apple, beating the likes Derek Jeter, Eli Manning and other of New York's favorite athletes: Jeremy Lin is New York's Most Beloved.

Knicks star Jeremy Lin had lunch with the former ESPN employee who was fired last month for writing a headline about Lin that included a racially insensitive word.

Lin met with Anthony Federico, 28, of Connecticut, during a Knicks off-day on Tuesday. According to Federico, the two discussed their shared Christian faith and Lin's knee injury. Federico wrote the offensive headline that appeared on ESPN's mobile site for 35 minutes in the early morning hours of Feb. 18.

"It went incredible," Federico said of the meeting with Lin. "I'm just so excited we had a chance to meet. We talked for an hour. I'm just so thankful."

I never actually believed Federico meant any harm when he wrote that headline. Maybe he thought he was being clever, but I imagine he didn't fully grasp the implications of the slur. That said, I think he deserved to be fired, because you just don't want someone who'd make such an idiotic decision on your editorial staff. People have been fired for a lot less than that.

Now, I don't know what Jeremy thought of the original headline, but I know he was quick to forgive and publicly accepted Federico's apology. And then he went the extra mile to meet with him, no hard feelings. You have to respect a guy who handles himself like that.